


Will You Promise Me Something?

by FlintMcC



Category: 9-1-1 (TV)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-03
Updated: 2019-11-02
Packaged: 2021-01-20 21:27:07
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,599
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21288419
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FlintMcC/pseuds/FlintMcC
Summary: A follow-up to “Christopher Has Two Daddies,” where Eddie and Buck marry to provide Christopher with a two-parent family. Eddie is uneasy when Christopher goes for a two-week visit with his maternal grandparents. Turns out he has a reason for it. Later, Christopher learns a sad but important life lesson.
Relationships: Christopher Diaz & Eddie Diaz (9-1-1), Evan "Buck" Buckley & Christopher Diaz, Evan "Buck" Buckley/Eddie Diaz
Comments: 5
Kudos: 228





	1. Chapter 1

The judge who confirmed Eddie Diaz’s custody of Christopher had stipulated that the child’s maternal grandparents, Kevin and Eileen O’Rourke, should have a role in his life, so Eddie was unable to decline when the O’Rourkes invited Christopher for a two-week visit with them in Houston during the school break. He was uneasy about the visit, but when he took Christopher to Houston, Kevin and Eileen were overjoyed to see their grandson, and they were welcoming and hospitable to Eddie. The plan was that after the two weeks, the O’Rourkes would fly Christopher back to L.A. aboard Kevin’s private plane. Eddie returned to L.A. and started counting the days until Christopher’s return.

He was on edge the entire two weeks. He was fine on the job, the usual consummate professional, giving Bobby and the rest of his teammates at the 118 no cause for worry, but at home he wasn’t quite himself. He had trouble falling asleep unless Buck held him close. Then one day Buck found him in the living room staring at a photo on a shelf under the wall-mounted television.

The photo was an 8 x 10 of Eddie, Buck, and Christopher that Carla Price had taken at Eddie and Buck’s wedding. In the photo, Eddie and Buck each had an arm around the other and a free hand on one of Christopher’s shoulders. Huge smiles on their faces, they all looked very happy. It was Eddie’s favorite picture. Buck walked up behind him and put his arms around him. “He’ll be home soon,” he said quietly.

Eddie shook his head. “I just can’t shake the feeling that something’s not right,” he admitted,

Buck tried to reassure him. “Everything’s going to be fine. He’ll be home before you know it.”

Despite his eagerness to see his son, Eddie went to work the day Christopher was due to return home. Hen was out that day because Denny was sick, so Eddie’s particular skills as a paramedic were needed. And needed they were: The 118 was called to a five-car pile-up at a freeway exit ramp. There were several serious injuries, and one driver suffered a heart attack, but fortunately Eddie and Chimney were able to save him. They weren’t so fortunate in the case of a young man who suffered an opioid overdose in a local park. By the time a passer-by called 9-1-1, it was too late for Narcan. It was a somber crew that returned to the firehouse.

In the meantime, while Eddie was still at work, Buck went to LAX to pick up Little Superman.

Back at the station after the call for the overdose, Eddie checked the time on his phone. They should be home by now, he said to himself. He hit his son’s number. A familiar little voice answered. “This is Christopher. Please leave a message.” That was odd, he thought, but maybe Christopher had forgotten to turn his phone on, or had forgotten to charge it. Nevertheless, he left a message. “Hey, Superman, it’s Dad. I love you! See you soon!” His message left, he called Buck. “Hey, Buck, you guys home? Christopher’s phone went to voicemail. Let me say hello to him.”

“Uh, Eddie,” came the reply. “I’m not at the house. I’m still at the airport. They’re not here.”

“What? I don’t understand. What do you mean, ‘They’re not here?’”

“They never got here.”

“What?!” Immediately, Eddie jumped to the worst possible conclusion.

Buck knew what he was thinking. “No, no! Not that! I’ve been trying to find out as much as I can. O’Rourke never filed a flight plan for Houston to L.A.”

“He never filed a flight plan to L.A.? That doesn’t make sense. Kevin’s more responsible than that. Shannon and I flew with him a couple of times. He always filed a flight plan, even for short flights.”

“I don’t know, Eddie. That’s all I could find out.”

Eddie thought a minute. “Stay there. I’m calling the O’Rourkes to see what’s going on. I’ll call you back.” He ended the call. Then he hit Kevin O’Rourke’s number. The call went to voicemail. He tried Eileen O’Rourke’s number and got the same result. Finally, he called the O’Rourkes’ home landline in Houston. The maid answered. “This is Eddie Diaz,” he said. “Let me talk to Mr. or Mrs. O’Rourke.”

“They’re not here, sir,” the maid answered.

“Where are they?” Eddie was getting upset.

“They left this morning. Mrs. O’Rourke said they were flying down to the house in Cabo San Lucas.”

“Cabo?!”

“Yes, sir.”

“Did they take my son with them? Did they take Christopher?”

“Yes, sir,” the maid replied. She added, “He’s such a dear little boy.”

Eddie thanked her and hung up, a shocked look on his face. They never intended to bring him home, he thought to himself.

Attracted by the agitated sound of Eddie’s voice, by now Bobby and Chimney were standing by, watching curiously. “Something wrong?” Bobby asked.

“The O’Rourkes took Christopher to Mexico,” Eddie replied incredulously.

“Mexico? They took him out of the country?” Bobby asked, frowning. “Without your permission?”

“Without asking me,” came Eddie’s answer. “They have a house in Cabo. That’s where they took him.”

“That’s kidnapping,” Chimney said, his voice flat with disbelief.

“Uh, Cap, I gotta go.” Eddie gestured toward the door and started moving slowly in that direction.

“Eddie!” Bobby called. Eddie stopped. “Go get your son. But be careful. You’ll be out of U.S. jurisdiction.”

“I will, Cap,” Eddie promised. Before he was out the door, he had Buck back on the phone. “Meet me at the house,” he said. “We’re going to Mexico.”


	2. Chapter 2

Cabo San Lucas is over eleven hundred miles from Los Angeles. Taking turns driving and resting, making minimal necessary stops, and breaking speed limits wherever possible, Eddie and Buck made the drive in about a day. Buck was as angry as Eddie. After all, Christopher was his son, too, and not just in an emotional sense. Eddie had convinced him to legally adopt Christopher, so that if something happened to him, his two boys could stay together.

As they drove into the town, Buck asked, “You know where the house is?”

“Yeah,” came the answer. “Shannon and I were here once, before Christopher was born.”

When they drove up to the house, Buck had barely stopped the car before Eddie was out the door and bounding up the front steps. He didn’t so much knock on the door as pound on it. When the door was opened by the O’Rourkes’ butler, a young Mexican man in a white mess jacket, Eddie slammed the door against the wall and pushed right past the startled young man into the foyer. The foyer led into a short hallway that opened into the living room of the house. Eddie strode down the hallway, shouting. “Where is he? Where’s my son? Christopher!” Buck was close behind him, ready to back him up if necessary.

Eddie stopped momentarily at the entrance to the living room, which was elegantly furnished in a sleek, modern style. One wall was all window, with sliding doors opening onto a deck that overlooked the ocean. The far wall was occupied by a large fireplace. Christopher was seated on a sofa reading a book with Eileen O’Rourke seated next to him. Kevin O’Rourke was standing by the fireplace, martini glass in hand. “Well, _Edmundo,_” O’Rourke said as Eddie advanced into the room, emphasizing Eddie’s name in an unpleasant way. “This is a surprise.”

“Dad?” Christopher said, looking up from his book, surprised to see his father.

Eddie, enraged, didn’t bother with civilities. He ignored Christopher for the moment. “Just what the hell do you think you’re doing, taking my son out of the country without my permission?” he demanded, jabbing a finger at Kevin O’Rourke. Eileen O’Rourke glanced nervously from her husband to Eddie and back again. Buck hovered in the background behind Eddie, frowning. Christopher stared at his father.

“Why, we were just going to show him some of his heritage from his father’s side of the family,” O’Rourke said condescendingly.

Eddie turned to his son. “C’mon, Christopher, we’re going home.” He turned back to Kevin O’Rourke. Still very angry, he said, “You had no right to bring him here, and as soon as we get back to L.A., I’m calling Judge Myers. We’ll see what she has to say about this.”

“Oh, yes. Judge Myers. We’ll be appealing her ruling. We’ll be continuing to seek custody of our only grandson.”

“You’ll what?” Eddie shouted.

“Of course, we’ll be trying for full custody. We’ll make sure you get visitation privileges.”

“Visitation privileges?!” Eddie advanced on his former father-in-law. Buck was a few steps behind him, growing concerned over what Eddie might do. He’d never seen him so angry.

“Of course,” O’Rourke went on, his tone of voice condescending, “we recognize you have a certain right to see your son, but if you think we’re going to allow our only daughter’s only child to be brought up in some dingy tract house by a couple of fag–.” Kevin O’Rourke never got to finish his sentence. At that moment, his nose connected with Eddie Diaz’s right fist. O’Rourke staggered back against the fireplace, preventing himself from falling by grabbing the mantel. His martini glass went flying out of his hand as blood spurted from his nose. Eileen O’Rourke jumped up from the sofa, giving a little shriek. Buck and Christopher stared open-mouthed. Eddie Diaz threw a mean right hook.

Eddie picked up Christopher in his arms. “C’mon, son,” he said quietly, “we’re going home.” Without another word, he carried Christopher out of the room and out of the house with Buck bringing up the rear, looking over his shoulder, watching, just in case Kevin O’Rourke tried to stop them.

“You’ll regret this, Diaz!” O’Rourke shouted after him. As soon as he managed to stanch the blood pouring from his nose, he reached for his phone on the mantel.

“What are you doing?” Eileen asked her husband.

“What do you think I’m doing? He assaulted me! I’m calling the police.”

“No, you’re not.”

“What?”

“You are _not_ calling the police,” she repeated.

It was unlike Eileen O’Rourke to contradict her husband, but she was contradicting him now. “Edmundo was right,” she went on. “We had no right to bring Christopher here without his permission. I _knew_ it would lead to trouble. I should have said something before we left Houston, and I’m sorry I didn’t, but no, this was your idea, and you had to have your way, just like you always do. And you were going to call Edmundo a faggot right in front of his own child!” She was very angry. “You’ve probably just cost us our only grandchild! If you call the police, you’ll only make things worse. You are _not_ calling the police,” Eileen repeated vehemently.

Chastened and shocked by his wife’s anger, Kevin put down his phone. He did not call the police, and Eddie, Christopher, and Buck had an unimpeded drive home to L.A.


	3. Chapter 3

They were still several hundred miles short of the border, with Buck driving, when Christopher, who was seated between his two daddies, looked up at Eddie. “Dad?” he said.

“Yes, son?”

“Can I ask you something?”

“Of course you can.”

“Why did you punch Grandpa?”

Eddie was silent for a while. He was afraid of where this might be heading. Ever since he and Buck had decided to make a life together, he had known that sooner or later, Christopher was going to have to learn a particular lesson about life. He had hoped that his son would not have to learn it at such a young age, so he tried to evade giving the little boy a direct answer. “I should not have done that, son,” he said. “When people have a disagreement, they should use their words, not their fists.”

“But why did you punch Grandpa?” Christopher persisted.

So it seemed there was no avoiding it. He hugged his little boy close, held him tight against his side. He wouldn’t lie to his son or sugar-coat the truth. He began slowly, “Your grandfather was about to use a very bad word about Buck and me.”

“You mean _faggot_?”

Eddie looked sharply at his son, and Buck, momentarily taking his eyes off the road, looked sharply at Eddie. “How do you know that word?” Eddie asked Christopher.

“Remember when you and Buck came to Parents’ Day at school?”

“Yes?”

“Jimmy Harper told me his dad said you and Buck were a couple of faggots. I said you weren’t.” The little boy looked down at his lap.

Eddie sighed. “Son,” he began, “look at me.” Christopher raised his face to his father. Eddie continued, “There are people in this world who don’t like other people just because of who they are. People they don’t even know. Just because of who they are. There are people who think it’s wrong for two men to love each other.”

“Like you and Buck?”

“Like me and Buck. These people don’t know us, but they hate the idea of two men loving each other, like Buck and I do, so they hate us, and they call us bad things.”

“Like _faggot_?”

“Like _faggot._”

“I don’t understand. Why would they hate you just because you love each other?”

“I don’t know, son, I don’t know. But they do.”

“Does Grandpa hate you?”

“Let’s just say I guess he doesn’t like Buck and me very much.” He hugged his son. “Will you promise me something?” he asked.

“Sure.”

“Never use that word about anybody.”

“_Faggot_?”

“_Faggot._ Promise?”

“Promise.”

Eddie hugged his son again. He glanced over at Buck, who was smiling at him, slowly nodding his head. Eddie gave him a little smile in return.

Christopher was silent for a few minutes. Then he said, “Dad?”

“Yes, son? Eddie replied.

“I don’t care what other people call you. I love you.” He turned to Buck. “I love you, too, Buck.”

Buck smiled at the little boy. Eddie rubbed his son’s shoulder. “We love, you, too, Superman.”

*-*-*

When they were safely home in L.A., Eddie phoned Judge Myers, just as he had promised Kevin O’Rourke, and told her what had happened. The judge got very angry when she heard it. The O’Rourkes had abused her decision that they should have a role in Christopher’s life, she felt. Plus, they had clearly broken the law in taking Christopher to Mexico without Eddie’s permission. This was a very serious matter. “Do you wish to press charges, Mr. Diaz?” she asked.

Eddie thought about that for a moment. He sighed. He wanted very badly to press charges against Kevin O’Rourke, but instead he replied, “No, your honor. I don’t want to put Christopher through that, having his grandparents charged with a crime.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes, your honor.”

“All right, then,” the judged said. “I won’t charge Mr. and Mrs. O’Rourke, though what they did is clearly felony kidnapping. What I will do is prohibit them from having any unsupervised visits with their grandson. From now on, they will only be allowed to see him in your presence.”

“Thank you, your honor,” Eddie said.

*-*-*

When the O’Rourkes, back home in Houston, received the judge’s order, Eileen O’Rourke gave her husband a hard stare. “I guess we can be grateful we’re getting off this easily,” she said pointedly. Kevin O’Rourke couldn’t face his wife. Instead, he looked at the floor with a guilty expression on his face.


End file.
